Saturday, April 28, 2018

Year B 5th Easter 2018 Bearing Much Fruit- KUMASI EDITION

Year B 5th Sunday of Easter, 29 April 2018 
St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Kumasi, Ghana 
“Bearing Much Fruit” 

Acts 8:26-END 
Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Get up and go towards the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ (This is a wilderness road.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this: ‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,    and like a lamb silent before its shearer,      so he does not open his mouth.  In his humiliation justice was denied him.    Who can describe his generation?      For his life is taken away from the earth.’  The eunuch asked Philip, ‘About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?’ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?’ He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.  
John 15:1-8 
‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 

I am the Vine, says our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We, he says, are the branches. We must abide in Him, so that he can abide in us. And why? So that we can bear the fruit as branches are made to do. 

I greet you brothers and sisters, in the name of the Vine, Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you. And I also bring greetings from Bishops Shannon, Bishop Goff, and Bishop Robert from the Diocese of Virginia, as well as Bishop Paul from the Diocese of Liverpool who I was able to see last week. My name is Father Rock Higgins. I am the priest of St. James the Less in Virginia. The Bishops have all commissioned me and my counterparts the Rev. Canon Malcolm Rogers, and the medical doctor Joshua Campbell, both from Liverpool to come and prepare to bring pilgrims to the third and final leg of the Triangle of Hope Youth Pilgrimage. Good Lord willing, we will be able to bring participants from the first two pilgrimages to Liverpool and Virginia here to Ghana to finish their spiritual and educational pilgrimage looking at the triangle of trade that enabled the horrific slave trade for over 200 years. I thank his Grace, Archbishop Daniel Sarfo, Archdeacon Joseph, and Father Kessie for helping and welcoming us since Tuesday. It has been a wonderful and unbelievable week. 

I grew up about 10 miles from where the first slave arrived in Virginia in 1619, 400 years next year. This was long before Virginia became a part of the United States, about 150 years before. And we imported slaves stolen from Africa for two-hundred-years. Part of our history that is so shameful, and so hurting, it is very easy to ignore it and want to let it go. 

When I went to Liverpool, I learned how their banks and ships made enormous amounts of money bringing manufactured goods here to the Gold Coast, buying human cargo, crossing the middle passage of the Atlantic to Brazil, and the Caribbean, and to the States in America, and yes, to my home state of Virginia. And here the ships filled with raw materials of tobacco, cotton, and other products to take back to the factories and shops of England.  
For the last few days, the Venerable Archdeacon Joseph Osei and Father Nana Kessie have given us another home here in Ghana. It has been a beautiful journey, the forests and the coast and the peoples, I have had my heart opened to Africa, and the beautiful people of Ghana. We have seen much. The most moving has been the Last Bath and Cape Coast Castle. The heartbreaking reality of what people could do to one another is staggering, and I will never be the same. Together we have made the prayer, “Never Again! Amen” a part of our journey and all its stops.  
But you did not come to Church today to hear a stranger speak of his journeys, we come to Church to meet the Risen Christ, and how we can serve him in our lives. Where I started today is where I will resume.  

I am the Vine, you are the branches, said Jesus. And we must abide in him. Think of a vine. The vine grows, and stays connected to its source, just as Jesus remained connected with God the Father. The vine grows and leads the way. The branches do not, and could not go first. They are the result of where the vine snakes and winds. And from the vine springs the branches to bear much fruit. Most likely Jesus here is speaking of a grape vine. We have many vineyards in Virginia, and sometimes on a special day my wife and I will go out and visit them. You can see the vines, clinging to their arbor, the structure on which they can grow, and after sufficient time, dangling down from the vine are bunches and bunches of grapes, each from their own branch.  
The whole point of a branch is to bear fruit. That is all. And if we are the branches, then maybe that is our point as well.  
The reading from Acts for the day is one of the great success stories of the early church. It was transformative.   
Philip, at the prompting of the angel of the Lord, is instructed to go on the wilderness road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza in the south.  He had no idea where he was going, but he trusted the Lord. Following the ambiguous instructions, Philip sees an Ethiopian eunuch in his chariot heading home to Ethiopia.   
Acts 8: Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 

Now there are several parts of this story do not come readily to mind to our ears.  First, this man was very important, Queen Candace’s Treasurer. He owned a chariot that he could sit down on.  This is like someone going on a trip by Tour Bus today. He has fabulous wealth.  

Second, he can read Hebrew and has enough money to buy a copy of the Isaiah.  We do not know how much of the Hebrew Bible was on his scroll. It could have been the Nevi’im, the Prophets, or maybe just a few of them.  But that he could buy a book and that he had the education to read it meant that this highly educated foreigner was a rare bird indeed. This scroll was not purchased in a gift shop at the end of the tour.  It would have had to have been hand-copied on sheets of most likely papyrus.  

Third, that he had taken the time, effort and hardship to worship in Jerusalem shows the level of his devotion and his hunger to know more of God.  He was already an outsider as being African, and a God-fearer instead of convert. But despite his outsider status, he continued. This is moving, because this same religion to which he was so drawn would have rejected immediately for his status as a eunuch.  Hebraic thinking understood that the purpose and function of marriage was procreation, and that if one emasculates themselves that can NEVER be a part of the congregation of Israel. Deuteronomy (23:1) is very clear about this. Even if this was done to the young man in his youth, probably as a slave.  Also, depending on how he was made a eunuch, it may have been impossible for him to be circumcised.  But despite this condition, he still saw hope and beauty in the faith of Israel.  Historically there had been ties since the time of Solomon. 

So our rich, powerful, devout eunuch is struggling with the Scripture, Isaiah, where it is a prophecy of God’s suffering servant.   
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth." 

Who is this, the eunuch wonders.  Philip then proceeds to calmly clarify his understanding that this sheep that was led to the slaughter was Jesus of Nazareth.  Philip continues, pointing out all that happened just months before they met. 

Then the pivotal question is asked.  And this is the miracle of the story.  Now later Philip is snatched up and taken 30 or so miles away, maybe miraculously, but the real miracle here is when there is a choice between the Law, that Philip would have known SO WELL, and to love the person who there next to him wanting to join in Christ.  The question was: 
"Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"  
Remember, he had just come from Jerusalem where his status as a foreigner and as a eunuch permanently barred and prevented from fully participating.  It is hard to circumcise a eunuch. 

We have no information on what was going through Philip’s mind.  Was he wrestling with what he had always heard, how this man was an abomination?  Did he wonder if he was doing the right thing? It may have helped that he felt led to be here, at this road at this time to talk with this chariot’s driver.  Whatever he thought or felt, most important was what he did. 

[The eunuch] commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 

The Coptic branches of  the Church mark this as the beginning of their part of the body of Christ, when the eunuch came home and evangelized those who became the Church.  The miracle was this, when Love trumped Law. And millions over time point to this moment as when they were welcomed into union with Christ. 

Philip’s faith was defined by what he did, not by what he did not do.  In his union with Christ, he saw with Christ’s eyes this man desperate to be loved and accepted.  Philip looked on this man and loved. 

In our relationship with Christ, may we do the same.  

When Christ calls us, we need to go. Think on this. Phillip, instructed by an angel to be at a certain place at a certain time, does so. Now Jesus, the Vine, had already laid the way for what was to come. He is the vine, he grows on ahead, so that we can bear fruit. And that is what he did. This particular man had the importance and the influence to change an entire country. The effects of his ministry are still being felt. What Jesus, the Vine, got started that day, and what Phillip, the branch, was able to accomplish is STILL BEARING FRUIT.  

I believe that so many occurrences have arranged themselves to make the Pilgrimage possible. Funding became available for us to come and be here with you. On Monday, there was a delay of our plane by 6 hours. Because of that we changed our seating. And because we changed our seating we met a man who has already contacted us here in Kumasi to helps Christ’s work become real. Our dream is that we will have youth from Liverpool, and Ghana, and Virginia visit each other's countries, and learn from each other, grow with each other, and become the leaders of the church where the vine of the diocese of Kumasi, and the vine of the diocese of Liverpool, and the vine of diocese of Virginia can all braid themselves together so that Christ can be glorified, and we can bear much fruit. Christ leads the way.  

Christ led bishops to meet at the Lambeth Conference and find common ground there in London. Christ led my life to be at the right place at the right time to help lead one of the first trips. Christ has made so much happen across three continents, only a blind person could claim not to see God’s hand at work. 

My prayers for you, brothers and sisters, is that you can and will follow Christ’s call when it happens, abide in him to his honor and glory, and bear the fruit you are called to produce. I would ask that you would pray the same for me and for our common pilgrimages. Lastly, thank you for your hospitality and welcome, and remember us as all serve the Risen Lord. Amen. 

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Year B 3rd Easter WED Image the Invisible

Year B 3rd Easter WEDNESDAY 18 April 2018
St James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Image the Invisible”

Colossians 1:15-23
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Matthew 3:13-17
Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then he consented. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’

I touched on this in our Easter sermon, the miracle of the Incarnation. So often we see it that Jesus is like God. But think about it, that is what we should all aspire to be like. The miracle, and the difference in Christian theology, is that we claim an Incarnation, quite different from a Hindu Avatar, and that in-the-flesh Jesus showed us what God is truly and really like. We too often have it reversed.

In Paul’s wonderful metaphysical poem on the pre-incarnate Christ, or the Cosmic Christ, as I have heard it described, we are given a portrait of a Jesus unbound by time and space and corporeality. And a God who chooses to indwell the flesh.  Hear again some of what Paul said:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
THIS IS WHAT GOD LOOKS LIKE
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—
HE IS THE ROOT OF ALL THAT IS, SEEN & UNSEEN
all things have been created through him and for him.
LIKE AN ARTIST, HE MADE IT, OWNS IT, FINDS DELIGHT IN IT
He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
PRE-CREATION, AND QUANTUMLY ENTANGLED HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER
He is the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.
BECAUSE HE WAS FIRST, HE LEADS THE WAY OF THE FAITHFUL
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
WORTHY TO CONTAIN GODSELF
and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood of his cross.
ABLE TO DO WHAT WAS NEEDED FOR US ALL

Almost creedal in its formulation, this litany of Christ’s attributes inspires awe. The Creator and Keeper and Redeemer of all that there is, and the driver of all that there will be. He is the Crux of the Universe, and in his crux, the Cross, he enabled all of what is to be reconciled with him, and for him, and to him.

My mentor always said, a leader does what has to be done. And if you are able to do it, you are response-able. And only Jesus, God in the Flesh, could do what had to be done. And because of that, we are able to be who we were meant to be. In Matthew’s account of the baptism we hear echoing out of heaven that beautiful name: Beloved. Agapetos. Ho Agapetos, THE Beloved. This is my Son, THE Beloved, in whom I am well pleased. Not only claiming Jesus, God declares the relationship, the status of him, as well as his pleasure. It is this story that kicks off the ministry of Jesus, this Epiphany that he is unlike anyone or anything that has come before.

Ho Agapetos. THE Beloved. And because of who he is, and what he has done, we are given the response-ability to do what we can. Paul calls himself a servant at the end of today’s passage. But the word there, diakonos, is where we get our term Deacon, a servant, a waiter, the person who does what needs to be done and anticipates the needs and makes them come to fruition. And Christ, the Cosmic Christ, began it, modeled it, and follows through with us all the days of our life. Amen.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Year B 3rd Easter 2018 Belonging

Year B 3rd Sunday of Easter 15 April 2018
St James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Belonging”

Collect: O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.Amen.

Acts 3:12-19
Peter addressed the people, “You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”

1 John 3:1-7
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Luke 24:36b-48
Jesus himself stood among the disciples and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

One of the great curses of our age is the disconnect from community. The feeling of isolation that happens in a so-called “connected age.” When we turn to social media for our social interactions, it actually creates distance. It is a tool, like any other. A good one, when used well, like a scalpel or a laser or a paintbrush. Being connected is the goal.

On the other hand, when we feel disconnected, apart from the whole, or that we do not belong, that is one of the great ills of our society and of so many people. The Beatles put it so well, so hauntingly, in their old song Eleanor Rigby

[A picture of her grave I took in Liverpool in 2016.]

Image may contain: plant, flower and outdoorImage may contain: text and outdoor

Ah look at all the lonely people 
Ah look at all the lonely people 
Eleanor Rigby, picks up the rice 
In the church where a wedding has been 
Lives in a dream 
Waits at the window, wearing the face 
That she keeps in a jar by the door 
Who is it for 
All the lonely people 
Where do they all come from? 
All the lonely people 
Where do they all belong?

Eleanor Rigby, died in the church
 
And was buried along with her name 
Nobody came 
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt 
From his hands as he walks from the grave 
No one was saved 
All the lonely people 
Where do they all come from? 
All the lonely people 
Where do they all belong?

Loneliness is as detrimental to the human heart as any disease or affliction. Married people live longer. People involved in community live longer. People with a purpose live longer. The key to belonging is being engaged, connected, feeling wanted and needed and a part. 

Belonging is one of the great needs of the human psyche. Freud, you have heard me say before, explained that we must see ourselves as lovable and capable of loving. Eleanor Rigby, and stop me after church if you would like to see a picture of her grave in Liverpool, was lonely. She had duty as she picked up the rice, but she did not feel like she belonged. So sad. So, so, sad.

We all need a tribe, a group, a family. And too often these days, we have set the bar so high on belonging, or feeling accepted, that some do not even try to attempt to make it into our groupings.

It used to be that affinity groups were about submitting to the authority of the group in order to belong to the group. In short hand, the way things used to be in groups like churches or other gatherings, one had to believe first, and if one affirmed that common belief then one could belong. 

A few decades ago, things got turned on their heads. It went that people did not trust authority, so they rejected groups that tried to impose authority. There were lots of reasons. The War in Vietnam, the counter-cultural movement, etc. And the people for whom this was the norm, the water they swam in, taught the next generation where it was exacerbated. And it has since become worse and worse, as far as believing before belonging goes. So what is our state of affairs.

Might it be that we have to turn things around, and let people try things on and belong first before we can even expect belief? There are even phrases for it: “Fake it till you make it.” And the like. People have an interest in spirituality, and because of that, they may check out church. For a time or two. And what could it be? Could we let people get comfy, and explore before we enforce this is what WE BELIEVE on them? Our creeds can be tools or weapons. I have faith. God is not done with any of us yet, and maybe we are going through some generations of Belonging more than Believing. And one day the pendulum will swing back. It all goes back to the needs of the human heart. 

We all need a tribe. That is why I feel the words of Jesus so powerfully. He came so that we could belong. He came so that we need not have any reasons that would hinder our belonging. He came so that we would have no excuses to being a part of him. When Jesus appeared the night of his Resurrection, the disciples were actually surprised and terrified about his appearance even though he had told them three times in Luke’s version that this was exactly what would happen. As he said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them,
“Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” 

In his coming back, in a real, corporeal presence, he showed them that everything he said was true. He was the proof. He even ate some fish so they knew it was not a ghost. But notice EVEN HERE, he met them where they were, accepted them, let them see for themselves that they still belonged with him, and then he worked on their belief. Wow.

Think on that, think on the extent God went to for each and every one of us to belong. Start first with the idea that God wired you in such a way to need to belong. We are social creatures. We die in isolation. If you ever wondered if you were made to be social or not, try tickling yourself. You cannot. We are wired to be in relationship. We are wired to belong. If God cared enough about you to make you ticklish, which is fun but silly, how much more does he care about the things that truly matter?

We can only guess. But he cared so much that he did not phone it in, but actually showed up to show us. He came in the form we would understand and recognize. He took on flesh and blood, hunger, thirst, and pain; he took on a family, and friends, and heartache; he took on a name Jesus, Yeshua, God-Saves, that is what it means. Could it get any clearer than that?

And God cared enough that we were given Free Will to choose. God will not force Godself on any of us. Some people see the idea of Hell as off-putting. And of course it is. Could it be, that Hell is not, a place of Judgment? Ponder this with me. As I see it, God wants no one to be separated from Godself. I understand Hell to be the condition of being apart from God. It is the space/time/place of Unrequited Love. God loves us and respects us enough that we have a choice on whether we choose to love God back or not. God forces Godself on no one.

A VERY different way of thinking than most of us have understood. In I John, I feel that is what the author is getting at in encouraging the Church.

See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; 

Notice here, not that we will be, or could be. WE ARE GOD’s CHILDREN NOW. It is signed, sealed, and delivered. And this is just the beginning.

I remember when my children were born. All those hopes and wishes and dreams we have for our kids. And life has its ups and downs, its setbacks and disappointments. But it also has its triumphs and joys, its glories and fulfillments, and it is not over yet. There are bright and good and glorious days ahead, and I cannot wait to see where it takes them, and me. The best of life so far is just the foretaste, the sip of the spoon on the heavenly banquet that is yet to come.

From I John again:
...what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Our response to these promises and foretastes is to be our best, to purify and live out the reality of our being God’s Children NOW. We are not in dress rehearsal for heaven. We are in the reality of God’s Kingdom NOW. And when we realize that, and start living in that reality, it makes all the trifles and trivialities less and less important. 

L. R. Knost penned this:
Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. LOVE INTENTIONALLY, EXTRAVAGANTLY, UNCONDITIONALLY. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. [Emphasis mine]

Sisters and brothers, you may be the only Bible some may ever read. You may be the sermon only some people have ever heard. Just as Christ came into the world to love the world, and that the world might be saved through him. [John 3:16-17] And in the same way, we have been named and claimed as God’s Children. There is no tawdry talk-show paternity test here. God calls us his own. Today, tomorrow, and forever. And in that authority we have been commissioned and sent to be that light in the world that brings out the God-Colors, that salt that enhances the God-Flavors, that difference in the world that leads us all to our Eternal Home.

Beloved, we are God’s Children NOW. You already belong. What have we to fear? As Jesus began with his disciples on that Resurrection night, “Peace be with you! Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?” He could very well be saying the same thing to us. Amen.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Year B 2nd Easter WED 2018 Abide

Year B 2nd Easter WEDNESDAY 11 April 2018
St James the Less Episcopal, Ashland, VA
“Abide”

Ps 119:1-24
Exodus 15:22-16:10
I Peter 2:1-10
John 15:1-11
Jesus said: ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.’

I tell this to my girls all the time, “Just do what I say and we all can be happy.”

No, that’s not true. I may think it, too often, but I do not say it.

But think about it. That is what Jesus is saying to us. “You wanna be happy? Really happy? Do what I am telling you to do.” Now the Bible version is not that colloquial, but it is saying that.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”

What does it look like to abide in Christ’s love? What does that feel like? How does that come to reality in our lives?

We obey his commandments. Love everybody. Even those who hurt and hate you. Do good. Love God. Love Neighbor. Love Self. You seeing a theme here?

Spring is finally here, I think, maybe despite the snowflakes the last few days. And as we enter into spring, I think on gardens and planting. I think on abiding.
“Abide in my love,” says Jesus. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.”

We are not plants though, we wander and move. But going back to the original metaphor of a vine, we choose to be grafted onto God and God’s work.

Does think make God happy? Yes, of course.

But instead of losing out, we gain everything.

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

God wants us to be joyfilled. God wants our complete joy. Not halfway. Not three quarters. God wants us to be filled to the brim and overflowing, so our cup can “runneth over.”

And as I say this, I always have to add the caveat, do not confuse joy with happiness. Things make us happy or unhappy. Situations, pleasures, and entertainments.

Joy comes from within, no matter our situation. Joy is our appreciation of who we are, and whose we are. Joy is the attitude of gratitude for all that we have been given, and all that we have been enabled to do. Happiness is a feeling, while Joy is a choice.

And God wants us to choose to abide, and in so doing, God wants our Joy to be complete.

What is your Joy? Are you staying grafted into the Vine so that you are being all you can be? Amen.